Week three football predictions

St. Joseph-Ogden (1-1) at Momence (0-2)

Last meeting: SJ-O def. Momence, 12-7 (Sept. 12, 2008).

Momence needs this game badly, but it won't be easy against an improving and confident SJ-O team. The Spartans played pretty well at fourth-ranked Stillman Valley last week and are gaining experience every day. The one advantage Momence has going into the game is a big play offensive unit — which could bode well against a Spartans' defense that has given up some big plays.

I think the team that has the most success covering their defensive flaws should win the game. SJ-O's weakness is the deep play; the Redskins is their ability to force quick outs. The Spartans' problem can lead to bigger scores but is easier to fix. The Redskins' problem is a slow, leaking defense — the kind you can't fix with some quick-rete.

St. Joseph-Ogden 27, Momence 19.

No. 6 Unity (2-0) at Warrensburg-Latham (1-1).

Last meeting: Unity def. Warrensburg-Latham, 32-21 (Aug. 29, 2008).

After opening the season with a pair of games against teams they haven't seen, Unity gets back to its yearly common opponents this Friday with a game at Warrensburg-Latham. Unity beat W-L to open the regular season in 2007 and 2008. While both teams made the playoffs in 2008, the sixth-ranked Rockets boast a much stronger team here in 2009. Unity survived Central A&M and rolled Argenta-Oreana to start the season, while W-L was blown out by St. Teresa and clipped Sullivan.

I think Unity's offense is capable of putting up big points in this game, though I don't know if they'll need a ton of points to win the game. I don't think the Cardinals' offense is going to score much against the Rockets' defense. W-L graduated too many seniors, this is going to be a down year for them.

No. 6 Unity 48, Warrensburg-Latham 13.